Nigeria: NFF, PTF, Fans, Super Eagles’s Show of Shame

June 23rd, 2010 | by: Bc Osunneye |

Obafemi SK
Face of defeat

Is this Nigeria’s lowest point in football? My answer is a big YES.

Nemesis had to catch up with the entire set up just like the French and nothing was going to go right. I want to see what people that clamored for the sack of Amodu have to say now that it is obvious the lack of taking advantage of time available has been our bane and also treachery where we seem to take delight in denying people reaping from their sweat.

Angola African Cup Soccer

Some called it sentiments ‘he is not good enough and that’s it’ they echoed severally. Forgetting that there is more to success. Team balance, mood, mentality, culture, time, experience, passion, pride, responsibility and a lot more have to do with it.

This was a man who qualified us twice and yet he was never good enough. He said the team was average and needed a lot of work we did not listen, not me anyway, if you read my assertions on this forum you will understand i never wanted a change except it was before the nations cup.

From the so called PTF, to NFF to media houses like Brila and of course so called fans, all have to share in this show of shame. If i can remember it seemed it was only the NFF that did not want to remove Amodu.

The issue is not about Amodu being the best we have, absolutely not. The issue is the principle behind appointing somebody with a mandate and the person delivering.

I am sure not one person would ever wish to be given a target at the place of work and you deliver then your bosses turn around to say you have to be sacked that, Yes you have brought millions into this company but we do not like how you speak or your style of approach, or how you dress. Isn’t it in the place of the management to then get an image consultant for you on how to dress? get a communication expert to beef up your speaking so that you can then be able to compete at a higher level?

Sk goal Enyeama’s slip.

They could even have complemented his position with a Keshi or a Siasia. Amodu had even indicated his interest in working with Keshi.

We listened to Keshi on Sat TV and would you say he is not sound. In fact he had better recommendations on tactical play than Lagerback showed with his selections and changes.

I cannot fault Lagerback that much, the man had 3 weeks with these boys. How would he differentiate players that perform in training and ones that perform better in matches? How would he know those who cave in under pressure and in front of the camera and those that get charged only when people are watching? Tevez at Man Utd never used to train well but was always first class in commitment level on match day. I played little football, never was I a physical training guy but had so much confidence to excel only when a huge crowd is watching meanwhile i always had team mates who would perform better in training but start shaking once they see a crowd.

lagerback Back to Sweden?

He might have been told that ‘ha, Kaita is our hardest working player’ We saw yesterday how Ayinla led the pressure game, yes he conceded fouls but the referee was too harsh. How he did not play the first two matches is only due to lack of time with Lagerback. This same thing happened in 2002 when Onigbinde dropped Yakubu and Oruma, Oruma for a mistake in a friendly and Yakubu who had just scored 8 goals in 5 matches after a comeback from injury. The only reason, Onigbinde was not used to them, simple.

To the players and the misses yesterday, it was definitely as if providence stood against the team. We were not going to get away with stealing. They were never going to win that game if played for 1 week or Koreans given red cards. We just had to self destruct to be more painful.

Failed hotel bookings, broken down aircraft, failed friendlies, shifted friendly venues, failed meetings between coach and players, shortlisting of players on paper, NFF still owing Chukwu, Eguavoen and Amodu for work done close to 5 years now are all just a few in the catalog of ineptitude.

Meanwhile you employed some foreign guy paying him within 5 months more than what you paid CCC, Amodu, Siasia and Eguavoen put together in 5 years.

What about the so called government officials wasting away millions of public funds. My people they had to come back before they finished our treasury. Senators, House of reps, Governors, football Chairmen of 36 states, ah….this is madness.

What about age cheating? We are not even sure of the ages of some of these players. We cannot just go on like this. They had to be disgraced at the world level.

Lesson: If you cheat, steal, fail to prepare, be treacherous and corrupt you will be found out. Its a matter of time.

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Angelfire1696

Nigeria's shameful performace in the world cup is just another expression of the woeful (an understatement) situation in our country. How can we be up to all the nonesense that we are up to back home and expect for it not to affect every single aspect of everything that we attempt to do as a nation?

Let us not waste our time competing in the world scene as Nigeria is a failure as a nation. Until we get our act together at home, every other thing is a waste of our bl**dy time!
Tim

I am not sure Lagerback will stay beyond his five month mandate. He was purely there because of the attraction of the world cup. It is over to some unlucky local guy to do some donkey work.

An X – ray of our performance suggest there were a catalogue of mistakes Leading to this shambles. Leaving out Anichebe, Ike Uche, Eneramo, Apam suggest a coach who relied more on here say or one who was acting out a script written by his pay masters. I was bemused how on earth Etuhu got to play all three matches with Ayila on the bench. How he was blind folded by a blunt Yakubu who for some reasons have never gelled in the national team.

I wouldn't want to dwell on the pros and cons of not carrying on with Amodu. In the first instance i was never convinced he was our best option. He was not convinced about the next generation of players to the national team which explains why he did not give them the platform to express themselves as he was friendly averse. It was of note that his best game was playing France in a friendly with a bunch of fringe players which he later froze out of the national team.

Going forward we need to start on a clean slate. Luckily for us we have a new resurgence in the local league of which supporting them will only help our domestic football grow. There in lies the future.
BcOsunneye

Hear Osaze:

“I think that is a big mistake with Nigerian football when we have one defensive midfielder and one creative in front of him. All our middle was open and that was the problem we had against Greece.

“Today the instruction was that three people did not have to participate in defence. I think that also was a big mistake.”

Odemwingie was reported to have erupted in the dressing room after the Greece loss, and explained that he had good reason to.

“Yeah I said to him that there are some key players in this team that he didn't give enough playing time. And I was one of them. I said to him we have been here for a few years and we have qualified this team for the World Cup and he was putting us aside and it's not fair.

“Some of us like myself and Martins are leaders in this team and we have been making the difference for the country and we needed to get more playing time and more chances to play.”
BcOsunneye

Osaze contd:

“They should not have fired Amodu. I think that was a mistake,” he said.

Odewmingie went on to say that Nigeria did not have a team good enough to challenge the best.

“To be honest, we don't have the team that can win the World Cup. If you go down to the roots, most of us, including myself, in our clubs we are not doing great.

“We are not like the big team we used to be, having players in the big clubs and coming here with the ambition to win the Cup. But definitely we could have done much better.”

Odemwingie also criticised coach Lars Lagerback's selection and tactics, but says if the coach can learn from his mistakes, he would do better with the Super Eagles.

“I think the World Cup experience and being with us has given him some advantage over the next candidate.

“People learn from mistakes. If he takes the positives from this one and he feels good with working with Nigerian boys then yes, I think he should stay.”
Tim

I will be the most surprised if Lagerback stays as reports has it that he is going to consult with his family before considering the offer to continue with the national team. This does not sound like someone who is desperate to make amends and start afresh. Le Guen has come out to say he will like to continue as Cameroun boss that is what we want to see. In any case it he is perfectly right to think through the offer of a long stint with the Eagles given the way football is run in the country. The question now is how do we move our football forward. The answer does not lie in a poor boy or quick fix solution but rather a programme with the goal of aiming to be contenders for the cup at 2014. For me what will be crucial is the squad to London 2012 olympics and a standing home based team who will form the bedrock to the SE both in the qualifiers and the world cup of 2014. We need to address the following?

How do we begin to identify possible players for this teams?
How do we keep them as a unit- the sum is greater than an individual?
How do we imbibe them with the pride of playing for the jersey and not for fame?
How do we keep them performing at the highest level? “Poor preparation produces poor performance”
How do we monitor the performances of this players?
How do we prepare for friendly and competitive matches is the normal 3 days arrival of foreign based players enough for them to acclimatise, shake off the jet lag,bond and gel as a team. Are there innovative ways around this and how do we ensure that it is not detrimental to their club football.
Can a standing homebased be kept given that no sooner are they discovered than they seek for pastures new?
How can we enrich and expose a standing homebased?
How do we address problem positions in the super Eagles? Midfielders/Attackers? Yekini it will be said made Westerhofs job an easy one. Is there a Yekini waiting to be unearthed or a JayJay.
What is our football style? How do we want to be seen as a football team. And how do we incorporate best practices to further enrich our style.
Realistically what is the lifespan of a super eagles player – It is scandalous to see a 25 year old playing like a 37 year old.
How do we brand our national team. It is one of the best tool at national rebranding. For Brazil to demand $1.5m as appearance fee and the SE not being able to command $100k says it all.
How do we reward our players? Given that $1m could not motivate them to beat Argentina. Can you give what you don't have. What should we be emphasising.
The next two to four years will no doubt produce more questions than answers.
The avenger

The bestcomment I have read from this blog is this “To the players and the misses yesterday, it was definitely as if providence stood against the team. We were not going to get away with stealing. They were never going to win that game if played for 1 week or Koreans given red cards. We just had to self destruct to be more painful.

Failed hotel bookings, broken down aircraft, failed friendlies, shifted friendly venues, failed meetings between coach and players, shortlisting of players on paper, NFF still owing Chukwu, Eguavoen and Amodu for work done close to 5 years now are all just a few in the catalog of ineptitude.

Meanwhile you employed some foreign guy paying him within 5 months more than what you paid CCC, Amodu, Siasia and Eguavoen put together in 5 years.”
Nigerian politicians and greedy public agents should all read this. The whole world is watching and soon very soon……… you will all pay for all these years of corruption and roberry!
BcOsunneye

Tim i feel you big time, its just that this is not a political forum so we have to keep it as simple as possible and all about FOOTBALL.
For me deception, outright cheating and ineptitude is the bane. all you have listed are things to think about but if not with the right mind and attitude, selfless people nothing can be achieved.
BcOsunneye

Thanks bro! Its really painful that running our football is not different from corrupt leadership we have been having in the country as a whole.